Provisional Met Office statistics show September has been fairly average for the UK, with lower than average rainfall being the only notable feature.

The UK mean temperature for the month was 12.8C, which is just 0.1C above the long-term (1981-2010) average. It’s the same story with maximum and minimum temperatures, which at 16.6C and 8.9C respectively, are both 0.1C above the long-term average.

September UK rainfall as a % of 1981-2010 average

There were 115.8 hours of sunshine in the UK during the month which adds up to 93% of the long term average – again, fairly normal. However, there were some big regional differences. Sunshine amounts were below normal in the west and south, but near or above normal in the north and east. For south Wales and south-west England this was provisionally the dullest September since 1994.

When it comes to rainfall, it has been a drier than average month for the UK. There was 70.7mm of rain during September, which is 73% of the long-term average. Parts of Wales, eastern England and Scotland had less than half the normal amount. For Scotland overall this was provisionally the driest September since 2003.

The drier than average September continues a theme for 2013 as a whole, with every month this year apart from May registering below average rainfall.